


underwater, breathing out and in

by monanotlisa



Category: Fringe
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Canon Futureverse, Drabble, Drabble Sequence, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Quintuple Drabble, Relationship(s), Season/Series 05, War, What-If, Wordcount: 100-1.000, h/c, impossible otp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-12
Updated: 2012-11-12
Packaged: 2017-11-18 13:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/561466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monanotlisa/pseuds/monanotlisa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A set of five drabbles riffing off elfin's story -- read that one beforehand.</p><p>Spoilers pretty much only for 5x01 <i>Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11</i>. This is set in an alternate universe just a jump to left.</p><p>...okay, it's a pretty long jump.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. i'll take you in pieces

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Living Just to Breathe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/525480) by [elfin (crazylittleelf)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazylittleelf/pseuds/elfin). 



The man trapped in Amber is beautiful.

It's not a word Etta uses a lot for the guys around her, or for her world.

Finding Lincoln Lee is nothing like finding her mother was. A rush of hope and fear tugged at her legs, made Etta drop to her knees by the translucent sarcophagus. Her fingers on its surface trembled.

Now they are steady, trace the outline of the man's jaw through Amber. The bow of his half-open mouth is gentle. He looks younger than her parents. "That's your friend, Dad?"

"Yeah." Her father's voice has gentled, turned pensive. "The best."


	2. piece by piece before I'm alone

Lincoln looks at the brown plastic wrapper she's holding out to him with long, graceful fingers. "Thanks," he says, frowns. "I think."

Etta smiles, a flash in the gloom. "It's hyper-condensed fruit, apple mostly." Her eyebrows rise. "Or so they say."

He comes from a world without rainbows, sheep or sweetcorn or tulips. But this is -- Lincoln takes the fruitstick from her hand. "What else do they say?"

"About food?"

"About everything here."

Up close, Etta's eyes are the same deep blue, and he knows the tilt of her mouth when she says, "I can help you with that."


	3. don't look away when there's nothing there

She fully expected him to fall, and he does. Lincoln goes down when the Observer materializes in front of him, gloved fist extended.

Etta didn't expect Lincoln to draw his gun before hitting the floor, to fire it from his prone position.

Now the Observer stumbles: another puppet with its strings cut. Etta refrains from putting another round into the Observer's chest.

Lincoln's skin is warm when she pulls him up, back to his feet. "You okay?"

"Yeah." There are fine beads of sweat on his upper lip, just above his smile. She wants to lick them off. "Never better."


	4. can't let it out

"Sure," Lincoln says, "you can parade the, the long rows of suitable young men past Etta instead; that sounds like a great idea. Very forward and non-paternalistic."

The expression flickering across Peter's face is one Lincoln has never seen before and cares not to see again. Lincoln instinctively centers his stance.

Until Peter exhales, one very measured breath. "Lincoln, you're right." His shoulders slump. "I'd barely begun teaching Etta how to interact in kindergarten. Hadn't gotten to the birds or the bees."

 _Let alone the boys_ , Lincoln thinks, but this time he's smart enough to not say it out loud.


	5. I still let you in

The horizon is mottled with thunderclouds. Etta never realized how aptly named skyscrapers were until standing on this balcony in the Empire State's skeleton.

"So what do we do now?" Lincoln's voice is soft in all the ways he's not.

Etta brushes her lips across his and feels him shiver. His hands push their guns out of the way before pulling her closer against his body. She noses his chest under the rumpled dress shirt he keeps insisting on wearing. Etta breathes Lincoln in until he stills and she does too.

It's not, and yet it is. "Easy. We fight."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [ashes in your hair remind me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/571633) by [Satan In Purple (purple_satan)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_satan/pseuds/Satan%20In%20Purple)




End file.
